INDIANAPOLIS – In June's final episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," aspiring actor Brandon Jacobs made a guest appearance playing a bouncer on the lookout for troublemakers. The role cast the Giants running back perfectly. Takes one to know one. The last time Jacobs played at Lucas Oil Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLVI, he disgustedly threw his helmet into the stands at the end of a 2010 loss to the Colts. Early this season, Jacobs criticized Giants coaches for...

By Ryan Smith FOR REDEYE. RYAN SMITH IS A REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR | February 2, 2008

TV ratings have dipped lately because of the extended writers' strike, but that won't stop most of us from gluing ourselves to the tube Sunday for a Super Bowl that gets bigger every year. Bigger ratings, bigger advertising dollars, and of course, bigger waistlines from all the terrible food we eat during the parties. Here's a look at some of the big numbers behind the big game. 4 million The number of TVs that consumers are expected to buy in anticipation of the Super Bowl, up from 2.5...

It's nothing new for sports figures to make news outside of sports, but some seem to have raised their game lately a bit more off the field than on. From jaywalking to dogfighting, from SAT testing to gender testing, we've spent much of this month discussing everything but the sports people play. Not to mention Chicago's two new golden arms who?ve yet to make even a single home appearance in a game that matters. Consider: LAW & ORDER Lou Piniella Once known as: Fiery Cubs manager was someone...

Tom Brady, meet the heartbreakers. The super team lost the Super Bowl. The super quarterback didn't get the job done. "You score 14 points," Brady said, "that's not going to do it." He lost. They lost. Believe it or not, Brady and the New England Patriots lost. They lost Super Bowl XLII here Sunday 17-14 to the we-refuse-to-lose New York Giants. They lost a shot at an unprecedented NFL record of 19-0. Brady finally lost a Super Bowl. He lost to a 12-point underdog.

It's not a coincidence. Except for one series, wide receiver Plaxico Burress has not been on the field for the Giants the last two weeks, and in those games, the passing yardage has spiked. When he was suspended for a game earlier this season? Eli Manning had the highest passer rating of his career against the Seahawks. Strange as it may sound, the Giants are a better passing team without Burress in their lineup. Why? Well, because opposing teams simply think they aren't. Without Burress...

Perfect? Why, yes, now that you mention it, it certainly was. Perfectly shocking. And it was a perfect ending for a team that hung in there and hung in there some more and wouldn't go away when common sense and a mountain of hype suggested it was time to hit the road. To say the Giants stunned the previously undefeated Patriots doesn't quite capture what happened Sunday night. The Giants stunned most everyone -- experts, bookmakers, believers, non-believers, people who wouldn't know a pass from a run...

If this indeed goes down as the week the Bears saved their 2008 season, as it very well could, it will be thanks to two tough stands. One involved Tommie Harris. But the biggest one did not. When the Giants were preparing for the Patriots before Super Bowl XLII, more than one of their players pointed to a fourth-quarter goal-line stand against the Redskins in September as the moment their season changed. The Giants were 0-2 at the time. After they preserved that victory, five...

With the opportunities to reach viewers dwindling, marketers are going to be throwing a lot at you on Super Bowl Sunday. Try to remember there's a football championship game on, too. Before the New England Patriots-New York Giants showdown Feb. 3 on Fox, Ryan Seacrest will host a pregame show complete with red-carpet interviews of celebrities and personalities tied to in-game commercials. Paula Abdul, a judge on the network's "American Idol," is in talks to...

The checkered past of Ahmad Bradshaw, which scared so many teams away from him in last year's NFL draft, has landed him in a Virginia jail for 30 days. The Giants running back, a 7th-round pick, emerged as a valuable weapon and was the leading rusher in Super Bowl XLII. He is in the Abingdon Regional Jail on a probation-violation charge. "The underlying charge in this matter stems from an offense which occurred while Mr. Bradshaw was a juvenile," said his attorney, Charles A. Stacy.

When asked recently what he'd say to someone seeking his autograph on a picture of him attempting to defend David Tyree's remarkable on-the-helmet catch that set up the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII, Rodney Harrison didn't hesitate. "You have to pay me," the Patriots safety and Marian Catholic product said with a laugh. But Harrison is actually putting his name on something directly related to the catch, free of charge. Tyree has penned a book titled "More Than Just a Catch," due out in...

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Sen. Arlen Specter face-to-face that he doesn't regret destroying the Spygate tapes. "I think it was the right thing to do," Goodell said Wednesday after meeting for more than an hour with Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee. Goodell noted that "we were the ones that disclosed" the Patriots' illegal taping of the Jets' defensive signals. "I have nothing to hide," Goodell said. Specter requested the meeting so...

Unsigned bands can post videos and audio files for the "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, a chance to have their original song aired during Super Bowl XLII in the slot traditionally used for a Doritos ad. Enter through Nov. 25 at snackstrongproductions.com.

Not only has the pride of New England been creamed by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, but also so has the region's namesake chowder -- at least at one New York restaurant. The Grand Central Oyster Bar is changing the name of its New England Clam Chowder to "Giants Clam Chowder" for the week. Restaurant owner Mike Garvey called it an "appropriate tribute."

Eli Manning barely got any sleep Sunday night. Bleary-eyed and still excited Monday morning, Manning said there was only one thing about him that had changed. "I'm a Super Bowl champion," he said less than 12 hours after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, as well as the MVP trophy, for leading the Giants to a 17-14 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. "I'm happy today, I'm fired up and I'm going to enjoy this moment. But you want to have this feeling again. "I want to become a better quarterback, that's...

Drew Fockler might have the greatest excuse ever for missing a day of school at Thomas M. Knoles Elementary School in Flagstaff, Ariz. Fockler went from the third tee box at the FBR Open to Section 219, Row 10, Seat 1 at Super Bowl XLII within an hour Sunday, courtesy of Phil Mickelson. "This is amazing," the 11-year-old Fockler told the Arizona Republic by cell phone from University of Phoenix Stadium. "I came expecting to watch Phil play golf and I ended up getting his tickets...